Heart-rate variability (HRV) — the time differences between one heart beat and the next — can be a good predictor of overall health.
Lower HRV is associated with negative health outcomes, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, obesity, and psychiatric disorders.
If you want to remain healthy, you should focus on increasing your HRV over time. There are several ways to do this, including regular exercise, good sleep, and stress reduction.
Diet can also play an important role in elevating (or reducing) your HRV. Here are a few foods and specific nutrients to include in your diet to benefit HRV:
Omega-3s / Fish
Omega-3 consumption is associated with increased HRV. This has been observed for both eating fish as well as supplementing with fish oil. Additionally, the Mediterranean Diet — which has fish as a central component — is linked with improved HRV and cardiac function.
Multivitamin
Taking a daily multivitamin has been shown to improve memory and cognition, especially in people with cardiovascular disease. Taking a multivitamin-mineral with 300mg of guarana has also been shown to produce HRV benefits, as well as improving decision-making and regulating the autonomic nervous system.
Yogurt / Probiotics
Yogurt enriched with bioactive components can help to reduce stress and anxiety, which has a beneficial effect on HRV. Specifically, yogurt enriched with alpha-lactalbumin, casein tripeptides and B vitamins was found to improve HRV relative to the consumption of regular yogurt.
Nuts
Nut consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, nuts have been shown to improve HRV. Specifically, adding pistachios to the diet has been shown to benefit HRV, as well as improve blood pressure and cardiac output.
Red Wine / Polyphenols
Consumption of polyphenol-rich red wine is associated with increased HRV. In contrast, drinking beer and spirits (and the total amount of alcohol consumed) does not have the same effect on HRV. This is likely attributed to the polyphenols in red wine. Polyphenols are also found in abundance in coffee, tea, dark chocolate, and berries.
Vitamin B12
Having good vitamin B12 status is associated with better HRV, whereas a deficiency in B12 is linked with lower HRV. Vitamin B12 is found in large amounts in seafood, meat, milk, cheese, and eggs. Many cereals are also fortified with vitamin B12 or you can consume vitamin B12 as a supplement.
…
On the flip side, diets high in saturated fat, trans fat, and high-glycemic carbs have been found to reduce HRV.
Many people are measuring HRV these days with wearable devices such as Oura, Whoop, or the Apple Watch. This can be very helpful to monitor how your HRV changes over time and how it is influenced by lifestyle habits.
Try adding some of the beneficial foods and nutrients mentioned in this article and see if you can move your HRV in the right direction.